Tackling The Truth Of Turnover
Tackling The Truth Of Turnover
1. Competition for customers
2. Competition for the talent needed to attract, serve and maintain those customers.
Some attrition is natural in both arenas. Significant defection in either area will adversely affect the other. Because this is a briefing, let's examine one element of defection: employees who voluntarily leave and why.
The July issue of Workplace Solutions Magazine published a list of the top reasons people leave their jobs. (Note: these are listed in no particular order)
The Top Five Drivers of Voluntary Terminations
* Relationship with Manager
* Opportunities for Growth
* Workload
* Organization
* Compensation
What Are You Hearing?
Of these five reasons, which one do you hear most frequently? I am willing to wager that it is the last one on the list, "More money." Why? The authors of the book Play To Your Strengths provide some insight about a potential flaw in the exit interviewing process they call the Say-Do Trap. Just as political pollsters face challenges with the accuracy of their responses, the same is true for exit interviewers. What employees say is not always what drives their behavior. Exiting employees who prefer not to burn bridges may be saying that they have found a position for more money. But that answer often masks the real issue. Compensation is a socially acceptable reason to leave and it typically will not be challenged. The exiting employee can easily avoid having a potentially uncomfortable conversation about the real reasons that led them to seek a happier workplace. While their search may have coincidentally resulted in higher pay, the reality may be that they would have been content to work for less money just to escape a bad situation.
There's Something Else About Mary
Here's a hypothetical scenario about "Mary". Mary tells her exit interviewer that she got "more money" elsewhere while her real reason for departure is that her manager is a condescending, incompetent idiot. Mary is one of several in her department who have recently left for that same stated reason, more money. To address this defection problem uncovered by socially correct exit interview responses, what does management do? They decide it's time to raise the department pay scale. So, not only has the exit interview failed to get to the root cause of the problem, misinformed management's remedy results in an unnecessary increase in overhead. They succeed in slowing down turnover by creating a barrier to exiting in the form of combat pay that is not easily exceeded. But what happens to productivity in this manager's combat zone of a department? The company now pays more for less output.
Take it to the bank…
Whether you’re dealing with the departure of either your external or internal customers, it's about more than money. There's always something else. In either case, it's about the overall value proposition of your offering. In either case, examine your information gathering process to determine if your boat has sprung a leak.
Tackling The Truth Of Turnover - To learn more about this author, visit Tom Lemanski's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
I've long been a believer that businesses owners must maintain an awareness of their standing in two highly competitive and equally important arenas.
1. Competition for customers
2. Competition for the talent needed to attract, serve and maintain those customers.
Some attrition is natural in both arenas. Significant defection in either area will adversely affect the other. Because this is a briefing, let's examine one element of defection: employees who voluntarily leave and why.
The July issue of Workplace Solutions Magazine published a list of the top reasons people leave their jobs. (Note: these are listed in no particular order)
The Top Five Drivers of Voluntary Terminations
* Relationship with Manager
* Opportunities for Growth
* Workload
* Organization
* Compensation
What Are You Hearing?
Of these five reasons, which one do you hear most frequently? I am willing to wager that it is the last one on the list, "More money." Why? The authors of the book Play To Your Strengths provide some insight about a potential flaw in the exit interviewing process they call the Say-Do Trap. Just as political pollsters face challenges with the accuracy of their responses, the same is true for exit interviewers. What employees say is not always what drives their behavior. Exiting employees who prefer not to burn bridges may be saying that they have found a position for more money. But that answer often masks the real issue. Compensation is a socially acceptable reason to leave and it typically will not be challenged. The exiting employee can easily avoid having a potentially uncomfortable conversation about the real reasons that led them to seek a happier workplace. While their search may have coincidentally resulted in higher pay, the reality may be that they would have been content to work for less money just to escape a bad situation.
There's Something Else About Mary
Here's a hypothetical scenario about "Mary". Mary tells her exit interviewer that she got "more money" elsewhere while her real reason for departure is that her manager is a condescending, incompetent idiot. Mary is one of several in her department who have recently left for that same stated reason, more money. To address this defection problem uncovered by socially correct exit interview responses, what does management do? They decide it's time to raise the department pay scale. So, not only has the exit interview failed to get to the root cause of the problem, misinformed management's remedy results in an unnecessary increase in overhead. They succeed in slowing down turnover by creating a barrier to exiting in the form of combat pay that is not easily exceeded. But what happens to productivity in this manager's combat zone of a department? The company now pays more for less output.
Take it to the bank…
Whether you’re dealing with the departure of either your external or internal customers, it's about more than money. There's always something else. In either case, it's about the overall value proposition of your offering. In either case, examine your information gathering process to determine if your boat has sprung a leak.
Tackling The Truth Of Turnover - To learn more about this author, visit Tom Lemanski's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
| |||
 |
No article feedback found. | ||
|
Leave Your Feedback | ||
|
|||
 Turnover is Not a Problem
| |||
| Turnover isn’t a problem - it’s a symptom caused by leadership problems. Fortunately, the problems
can be solved, and you have the power to make that difference. Strive to become the best leader you
can be. |
|||
|
How to Reduce Employee Turnover
| |||
| It is now relatively common to change jobs every few years, rather than stay with one company throughout the employment life, as was once commonplace. Turnover is becoming a serious problem in today's business envir... |
|||
|
Sometimes its one slice at a time …
| |||
| Rather than going at a large task head on, breaking it down into pieces can relieve stress and provide a clearer timeline to where you want to go. Check out the powerful steps you can take to reach those larger goal... |
|||
|
Turnover, what does it cost?
| |||
| Reducing turnover is a critical step in improving your resiliance during tough economic times. However, Retducing turnover isn't enough, you must retain the right employees. This is the first section in a four part ... |
|||
|
To Tell the Truth
| |||
| If you are a baby boomer, “To Tell the Truth” refers to a TV show where 4 quasi-celebrity panelists ask questions of three guests to and try anddetermine which guest is telling the truth out of bold-faced untruths. ... |
|||
| |||
|
To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us. | |||
 | |
 Tom Lemanski (Visit Tom's Website) Tom Lemanski is President of Vista Development, a strategic development firm in metropolitan Chicago Illinois. As a Business Catalyst and Executive Coach, Tom works with executives in growth orientated organizations to help them to overcome their internal obstacles to growth and achievement. He has recently launched a new site Executive Talent Assessments with new resources for making more informed hiring and promotion decisions.
|  |
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
| Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media |
|
|
 |
| Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details. |
 |
 | ||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
|
| ||
|
|
|
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
|
|
|
 |
 Radio Campaigns Success & Happiness Networking Online Law of Attraction Powerful Living |
|
 | ||
 |
Top 50 Geek Business Blogs
Top 50 Geek Business Blogs | |
 |
The Top 10 ProBlogger Posts
Best Posts for Bloggers | |
| ||
 |
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
|
||||||||||||
